Knoxville + Mom = 634,000 Returns

10:41 AM, May 5, 2010

My Worst Fear As a Mother-to-Be? A Burning Cross on Our Front Lawn

Right now, I'm four months pregnant with a biracial baby, and I live in the South. In a small town.

My husband, Fred, and I ... moved to Knoxville, Tenn., last September before I was knocked up, and I have to admit that I had my reservations (read: visions of burning crosses and white-hooded men protesting our union) while we were packing up the moving truck...

When we got here, I was pleasantly surprised. Our neighbors welcomed us -- not with pitchforks, but with open arms. When we go out downtown, instead of stares and racial slurs, we get smiles and nods. And then we found out we were pregnant. That's when I began to panic...

Yes, everyone we've met so far has been lovely. And I've come to the conclusion that hateful, racist extremists probably settle in a wide variety of places, but, thankfully, they are few and far between.